Birth of a Strategist
by Moltke
Summary: Pokémon battles aren't all about strength. They aren't all about heart, or even believing in your Pokémon. To succeed, one must always think three moves ahead of the opponent. As JT begins his journey, he must learn how to twist his weaknesses into strengths, for a mastermind is manipulating dangerous organizations to achieve power, and everyone else is too blind to see it.


**Previously published under 'The Journey Begins'.**

 **Turns out that is the most cliché title for the opening book in an adventure series.**

 **Yes, 13 year old self. I am laughing at you.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Pokemon, I Choose You!

 **"** **I** NFERNAPE, CLOSE COMBAT!"

I watched as my Infernape scored a critical hit against Spiritomb.

" _Spirit-"_

The invisible crowd cheered as Spiritomb fainted. Of course they did, I was their hero.

"Nooo!" Cynthia yelled, "Spiritomb!"

This was a dream I've been having lately. I was battling the Champion, Cynthia, and defeating each of her pokemon in one hit. It was totally unrealistic, of course. A fighting type move like close combat could never even hit a ghost type like Spiritomb, much less faint one. But it was a fun dream anyway.

"Haha!" I laughed, "You can never defeat me!"

"Grrrr, I'll defeat you if it's the last thing I do! Garchomp, battle stance!" Cynthia threw her pokeball.

" _Garrourg!"_ Garchomp emerged from the ball's read light with a roar.

"Get ready, Infernape! Focus punch!" I yelled. Punching the air with my hand in a mock version of the move I had called out.

" _Infernape!"_ It said, launching itself at the foe, its fist glowing with the power of its punch.

Then I heard a beeping sound.

" _Infer?"_ Infernape stopped in its tracks. It looked around trying to find the source of the sound. It seemed to come from all over.

"Ooh, to late," Cynthia said. "Time's up. Looks like I won."

"What?! No fair! I beat almost all your pokemon! _I_ won!"

"Time's up. I win." She repeated, a twisted smile on her face. "That means I get your pokemon." She held out her hand. Infernape's pokeball, which for some reason I had been holding, flew to her hand.

"Noooo!" I reached for the pokeball, but it was just out of my reach.

"Return Infernape." Cynthia ordered.

" _Inferrrnape!"_ It reached out its hand to me just as the red light from the pokeball engulfed it.

"Infernape! No!"

Cynthia started laughing, an awful, evil sound. "I win." She turned and walking away.

"You can't do that! That's my pokemon!" I started running after her. "You can't do that!"

I ran as fast as I could-and let me tell you, I'm a pretty fast runner-but for some reason I could not catch up with her. She was always twenty feet ahead of me in that inky blackness of my dream world, laughing.

" No! You can't _do_ that! Infernape!"

Cynthia just started laughing all the harder. Then the beeping got louder, and Cynthia's laugh and the beeping melded to form a robot like sound.

"NOOOO!" I reached my hand out in a desperate attempt to reach her.

"I win."

I woke up in a cold sweat. For a second I thought that I was still in that nightmare of a dream because the beeping was still going on.

"Uhhgg," I rolled over as I realized it was my alarm clock and put my pillow over my ears. It didn't help much. I sat up and got to my knees to reach my clock, and promptly fell out of bed. My sheets had become entangled with my pajama pants. Reaching up I groped for the off switch. The beeping finally stopped. I checked the clock. 6:03.

"Six o'three?!" Why on earth had I set my alarm for 6:03? Then the fog cleared from my brain.

"MOM!" I stood up suddenly, remembering what day it was. I had hardly gotten three steps before the sheets brought me down again. "Oof!" Finally getting rid of the sheets I headed to my Mom and Dad's room.

"Mom, Dad! Guess what!"

"What?" I heard my Mom's sleepy voice, muffled by the pillow her face was in.

I looked around. "Where's Dad?"

"He left in the middle of the night. Something about a Tauros and a car."

"Oh," My Dad is a PED, a pokemon emergency doctor. Really though, you could take the emergency out of it. He deals with broken bones, bad sicknesses, all the sort of things Nurse Joy can't handle. Which is pretty much everything over sheer exhaustion and simple viruses. So he is gone a lot.

"Which won?" I questioned.

"I dunno, but he had to leave right away."

I flinched. It was a pretty close contest between a Tauros and a car, but if my Dad had to leave in the middle of the night the car probably won.

"So what's happening today to get you so exited, Jason?" My Mom still had her head in her pillow.

The momentary disappointment over my Dad being gone instantly vanished as I remembered what today was.

"I'm getting my pokemon today!" I jumped on the bed. "Come on! Let's go!"

My Mom laughed. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up. What time is it?"

I looked at the clock, "Six-fourteen."

"What? Give me ten more minutes."

"Awww."

My Mom looked up. "How about you do your morning chores, eat, and head on over to Professor Rowan's lab and I'll bring your backpack over in a few minutes."

"Okay!" I jumped out of her bed.

Let me tell you, I've never done my morning chores so fast, and I believe I broke the world record for eating a waffle in two seconds flat. I rushed to brush my teeth. The boy in the mirror had blue eyes bright with excitement and his short brown hair tussled. I ran a comb through my hair and then was out the door.

The morning air was slightly cool, but promising a beautiful day. I hadn't gotten very far before I got the feeling that I had forgotten something.

"Oops," I looked down at my bare feet and wiggled my toes. "Gotta have shoes on your pokemon journey."

I rushed back inside and pulled on my sneakers. My hand was on the doorknob when I heard a sound behind me.

"Ah-hem."

Turning around I saw my Mom standing with her arms open. I ran over and gave her a hug.

"Love you."

"Love you to. I'll meet you outside the lab with the other parents to give you your backpack."

"Okay," I pulled away. My Mom grabbed my arm.

"Don't forget this." She handed me my pokemon vest.

"Thanks. Love you, bye!" I ran out the door, pulling my vest on as I went.

I had gotten my pokemon vest special for this day. It was one of the items new trainers could get to carry their pokeballs. There're also belts, necklaces, and bracelets you could get to carry your pokeballs. I even saw a hat with the balls around the rim!

The sun peeked over the horizon and the world turned a golden-yellow. It was so beautiful today, a perfect day to start a pokemon journey.

I reached the lab and knocked on the door. I was glad to live in the same town as Professor Rowan; I visited him a lot and played with the pokemon there.

Professor Rowan answered. "Hello, JT. You're up early." He smiled.

"No earlier then you," I answered his smile with one of my own and walked in. "Can I pick my pokemon now or do I have to wait for Chris and Danica?"

"You can pick your pokemon now. Do you have a particular one in mind or would you like to see all of them?"

"I'm getting Chimchar." I answered confidently. Chimchar is my favorite pokemon, besides Infernape of course. I knew all Chimchar's moves and have traced out all sorts of battle strategies with Chimchar as my prime pokemon.

"Um, well, uh, you see," Professor Rowan scratched his head nervously, "The box that held the Chimchar egg was stolen before it ever got here."

"What?! Oh no!" I was totally crushed. Chimchar was the only pokemon I had ever planned on getting!

"We still have Piplup and Turtwig if you want to look at those. Or you could wait a few months; we're due to get another egg then."

"I guess I'll look at the other pokemon." I walked over to where Professor Rowan was standing, my feet flopping with disappointment. I could wait a few more months to get a Chimchar, but I had waited _so_ long already.

 _Thump, thump, thump._

I stopped in my tracks as I heard a sound almost like thunder. Then I heard the shrill calls of many Starly. And they didn't sound happy.

 _"_ _Stirly! Stirly, stirly, STARLY!"_

Someone started banging on the door. "Let me in! Quick!Hurry!"

I ran and opened the door. A man rushed in and slammed the door shut to keep any Starly from coming in. They continued to beat at the door in vain for a few more moments before giving up and flying away.

"Thank you," The man said and wiped his hand across his face, smearing dirt on his forehead.

I took a step back to look at him. He was in a white lab coat, jeans, and a brown T-shirt, like Professor Rowan, but his lab coat had grass stains and was powdered with dirt. I assume from running away from all the Starly. He also had a lot of little scratches on his arms from their sharp beaks and claws.

I wondered what on earth he could've done to upset the Starly enough for them to attack him. They were usually so calm; you could approach them without having to worry about them mobbing you.

But this man had somehow managed to anger a whole flock.

"Note to self, never approach a Starly lying or sitting on the ground because its mom and the whole flock will mob you." The man smiled a bit sheepishly. "It probably fell out of the nest."

Goodness, either that man wasn't very smart or he never read his school books. That was one thing every young trainer learned before they even got their pokemon. Starly might be nice by themselves, but if a chick fell out of a nest or one of the flock is hurt they'll mob anyone who come near.

"Starly are almost as bad as a Spearow." He added.

Man, that man wasn't good a grammar either. He said _a_ spearow implying _one_.

Professor Rowan stepped forward. "JT, this is Professor Elm from New Bark town, Professor Elm, this is Jason Taylor from right here in Sandgem."

"Nice to meet you, JT." Professor Elm reached out his hand and I took it, shaking it firmly.

"Nice to meet you too." I replied.

It was kinda hard to believe that the person who seemed to know so little about pokemon-and grammar- was actually a professor.

I heard a little noise and looked down; there was a small pokemon hiding behind Professor Elm.

I knelt down to get a closer look. It had a long snout, a yellow belly, and the top of its body was a dark blue. It also had red spots on its back. I had never seen one like it before.

"Cool pokemon. What is it?" I remarked.

Professor Elm knelt down and rubbed the pokemon's head. "It's a Cyndaquill."

"Cyndaquill," I mused. "I haven't heard of that pokemon."

"It's from Johto."

"Johto?" I asked incredulously. Johto was pretty far away. I wonder how he got it?

"Mmm, hmm. It traveled a long way. So," Professor Elm looked up, "Do you like it here in Sandgem?"

"Yeah, of course. Well, I mean, I've never really been anywhere else. I grew up in Sandgem."

Professor Elm nodded his head thoughtfully.

"Do you like it in Newbark?" I asked, trying to be conversational. The town wasn't familiar to me, but there are a lot of small towns in Sinnoh that don't even make it on the map.

"Yes, it's pretty great, all but the wind. You have to keep your feet firmly on the ground or you'll float away."

"Where is Newbark, anyway? I haven't heard of it." Professor Elm looked at me for a moment like he couldn't believe someone could _not_ know where Newbark was. Then he laughed.

"I'm sorry. I forgot that I'm in Sinnoh. Newbark is a small town in Johto where I have my lab."

"Johto? As in _the_ Johto? The _region_ Johto?"

Professor Elm chuckled, "Yes."

No wonder he knew nothing about the pokemon here! He was all the way from _Johto_. (It didn't explain his grammer though. Maybe I heard wrong.)

"Professor Elm has come here to study Sinnoh pokemon and their evolutions." Professor Rowan spoke up.

"Cool," I took a protein bar from my pocket and bit into it. I watched as the Cyndaquill brought its head up and sniffed. "So how long are you staying here?"

"I'm leaving this morning. I was conducting my last observation in the field when the Starly decided they didn't want me there. I'm hoping to leave in time to catch the afternoon boat to Johto, so I have to leave in a few minutes."

"Oh," I took another bite of my bar. I watched the Cyndaquill take a few steps closer to me, sniffing.

Then it jumped up and snatched the bar from my hand!

"Hey! That's mine!" I dived after it, knocking a few chairs down as I did. "Come back here!"

 _"_ _Cynda-quill!"_

It ran across the floor, swerving chairs and lab equipment. It then jumped onto the table then to a shelf.

 _"_ _Quill!"_

I watched as it landed wrong and teetered and lost its balance. I held out my hands to catch it.

"Ah-ha! Got you!" I said as it landed in my arms.

 _"_ _Cynda!"_ It tilted its head back and swallowed my protein bar whole, wrapper and all.

"What?!" I said in surprise. Suddenly Cyndaquill's back erupted in flames. "Yikes!" I quickly dropped it. Cyndaquill landed on its feet and ran a few feet away, where the flames slowly died away.

Professor Rowan and Professor Elm started chuckling.

"Cyndaquill is the fire-mouse pokemon. With the emphasis on _fire_. I'll go get you another protein bar." Professor Rowan started walking to where I knew the kitchen was located.

Professor Elm chuckled and said, "I think Cyndaquill likes you."

"Likes me?! It practically burned me to bits!"

"It can't help it. Whenever it eats anything the flames on its back flare up. That also enables Cyndiquill to eat almost anything besides rock and metal."

"Really? Wow," I looked down to where Cyndiquill had its front paws on my leg, begging for another treat.

 _"_ _Cynda?"_

"I'm sorry buddy, I don't have anything else for you. You ate the last of my bars." I scratched it on the head.

 _"_ _Cynda,"_ It dropped down, disappointed.

"Wait a sec; I think I do have something." I pulled out a candy bar wrapper. I meant to trash it this morning but forgot.

Professor Elm gave me a funny look. "Just because it can eat everything doesn't mean it will."

"Oh," Cyndiquill stood up on its hind legs to sniff the wrapper. Maybe it liked the smell of chocolate or something because it jumped up and gobbled the wrapper whole.

Professor Elm shrugged, "Or maybe it will."

A crash came from the kitchen and I heard Professor Rowan say something. "Munchlax! You're supposed to be outside!"

"Sorry Professor Rowan!" I heard Terry, one of the lab assistance people, call from where he was testing a computer program. "It seemed cold outside so I let him in!" Terry was a bit soft on Munchlax. Whenever Munchlax acted like it was freezing cold outside or burning hot Terry let it in.

"At least close the kitchen door!"

"Sorry, Professor!"

I smiled. Chances were if Munchlax got to the kitchen there wouldn't be much food left.

"JT?"

I looked up to Professor Elm. He had a thoughtful look on his face. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to be Cyndaquill's trainer?"

"Me?" I said in surprise. The question had totally caught me off guard.

"Yes, you. No trainer has wanted it because Cyndaquill is usually rather shy. It was getting lonely back in Johto, but you seem to like Cyndaquill, and it likes you. What do you say? Would you like to take Cyndaquill on your pokemon journey?"

"Um, well…" I looked down to Cyndaquill. It had a hopeful look in its eyes. Why not? I asked myself. They don't have Chimchar.

"Sure."

" _Cynda-quill!"_

"Great! Here's Cyndaquill's pokeball. Though I must warn you," Professor Elm handed me the shrunken pokeball. "Oh-no!" Professor Elm looked at his watch. "I have to go! Cyndaquill likes spicy food and sweet food, though not together. It also doesn't really like its pokeball. Bye!"

Professor Elm ran out the door and jumped on his bike. It looked pretty funny watching a professor ride a bike, his white lab coat flapping in the wind as he flew over the dirt road.

"See ya!" I called after him.

"Professor Elm left already?" I turned to see Professor Rowan behind me, watching the figure on the bike get smaller in the distance.

"Yep, really fast."

Professor Rowan shrugged then looked down to where Cyndaquill was standing next to me.

"He let you have Cyndaquill as your partner?"

"Mmm-hmm," I nodded.

"You're very lucky. Professor Elm has been having a hard time finding a trainer that would take care of Cyndaquill and he wouldn't have let you keep it unless he thought you would become a great trainer."

"Really? Thanks! Uh, but why wouldn't any trainer take it?"

"Professor Elm didn't tell you? He probably forgot."

"Forgot to tell me what?"

"Well, Cyndaquill doesn't like its pokeball."

"Oh, He told me that. But why does it matter?" I said, confused. It might not like its pokeball, but in that matter the pokemon didn't have much choice.

"Maybe you should try returning it to find out." Professor Rowan suggested.

"Okay," I took out Cyndaquill's pokeball and enlarged it. "Cyndaquill, return!" The red light shot out and Cyndaquill jumped away.

"Hey!" I tried again, "Cyndaquill, return!"

 _"_ _Cynda!"_ It jumped and dodged.

"Return!" It dodged again. I chased it. "Return, return, return!" It dodged the red light over and over. "Cyndaquill!"

 _"_ _Cynda!"_

I lunged at it-and fell on my face. _Man_ that Cyndaquill is fast! I turned around and saw Cyndaquill running toward a corner. Perfect, it wouldn't be able to dodge there!

"Ah-ha! Can't get away now!" I said, cornering it. "Cyndaquill, return!" The red light shot from the pokeball, for a second I thought I would get it, but Cyndaquill seemed to coil up like a snake- and then it _jumped_ over my head!

 _"_ _Cyndaaa-quill!"_ It landed right behind me.

"What?" It turned and ran.

 _"_ _Cynda, cynda, cynda_. _"_ It hid behind Professor Rowan.

"Uhgg, I give up. Cyndaquill you win." I plopped down into a chair.

 _"_ _Cynda? Cynda, cynda!"_ It ran over and butted its head against my hand.

"What? You want me to pet you after all you put me through? No way." I pulled my hand into my lap. I heard a sound and turned to Professor Rowan. He was _laughing_.

"Hey!"

"Sorry JT. I haven't had so much fun in-I don't know when!" He went on laughing.

"Hmmff." I crossed my hands over my chest.

 _"_ _Cyndaa?"_ Cyndaquill looked at me with its big, hopeful eyes, begging, just _begging_ me to rub its head. I was a bad trainer. I gave in and reached out my hand to pet it.

"That's not very disciplining." Professor Rowan said in a disapproving tone.

"I'm never going to be able to discipline it if it keeps acting like this." I replied, scratching Cyndaquill on the head. Professor Rowan smiled.

"Hey, I was here first!"

"No, I was!"

"Ow! That was my foot!"

"Move out of my way!"

"No, you move out of mine!"

Professor Rowan and I turned to the front door where the ruckus was coming from.

"Professor Rowan, I'm here!" The two kids said in unison as they burst through the door. I looked at my friends, brown haired Danica Shirling and blond haired Chris Fisher.

"I'm here to pick my pokemon!" Danica said.

Chris looked my way and saw me. "Hey JT!" He said coming over. "Cool Cyndaquill. Is it yours?"

I nodded. "The Chimchar egg was stolen but a professor from Johto was visiting and let me keep Cyndaquill."

"Lucky," Danica said coming over and rubbing Cyndaquill, who had jumped to my lap, under the chin. "It's _so_ cute!" She exclaimed.

"Chris, Danica, would you like to pick your pokemon now?" Professor Rowan asked.

"Yes!"

"Definitely!"

They ran over to where Professor Rowan was taking out two pokeballs. "Come on out to meet your new trainers!"

 _"_ _TuurTwig!"_

 _"_ _Piplup_. _"_

Chris went right over to the Piplup while Danica observed Turtwig. I picked Cyndaquill off my lap and walked over to get a closer look.

"I'm getting Turtwig." Danica decided abruptly.

 _"_ _Turtwig!"_

Chris looked at Turtwig. "It looks kinda weak." He observed.

 _"_ _Turr!"_

Danica crossed her arms. "Well I think it's cute. I like it."

Chris shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm getting Piplup. It's nice and strong."

 _"_ _Piplup!"_ Piplup crossed its wings and puffed out its chest in pride and looked down at Turtwig.

Turtwig set its feet firmly and stared back. Piplup puffed its chest out more. Turtwig narrowed its eyes. Piplup puffed its chest out even further. (If that's possible.) Turtwig narrowed its eyes to mere slits.

"Alright that's enough!" Professor Rowan stepped in. "There will be no pokemon battles in my lab!"

 _"_ _Turtwig!"_ Turtwig jumped back in surprise.

 _"_ _Pip?"_ All the air whooshed out of Piplup's chest at once, tumbling the pokemon over. _"Piplup!"_

Piplup pushed itself up and glared at Turtwig and Danica, who were both laughing.

"Hey!" Chris exclaimed. "Not funny!"

 _"_ _PipPip!"_ His pokemon agreed.

"Says you! That was hilarious!" Danica laughed all the harder.

"Hey, kids. Your parents are out there." Professor Rowan broke up any further argument with his simple statement.

"Oh yeah. Bye Professor Rowan!" Danica rushed out the door, followed by her Turtwig.

"Yeah, bye!" Chris yelled, Piplup waddling after him.

"Bye!" I was about to follow them when I saw a pokeball sitting on the table. "Hey, what's this?" I asked.

"Oh," Professor Rowan smacked his hand to his head. "That's Professor Elm's pokeball. He must've forgotten it." Professor Rowan looked at me. "Can you do me a favor JT?" He asked.

"Sure." I had a pretty good idea of what it was.

"Can you take Professor Elm's pokeball to him? Please?"

"Of course." I replied. "But he's on a bike. How am I supposed to catch up with him?"

Professor Rowan got out a map. "Professor Elm is traveling to Canalave City by this route." Professor Rowan traced a slightly winding path. "If you go this way," He traced a less winding path. "You should be able to catch up with him."

I leaned over to look where Professor Rowan was pointing. "I didn't even know there was a route there." I exclaimed.

"Not an official route. It's little more then a dirt path. Sinnoh is crossed all over with paths like these."

"I never knew that."

"Most people don't. You better get going if you want to catch up with Professor Elm. Your Mom is waiting outside."

"Okay. Come on Cyndaquill! Bye, Professor Rowan! See ya!"

"Bye!"

I ran outside. Chris and Danica were saying bye to their families. I felt a momentary stab of disappointment at seeing only my Mom there. My older sister, Carol, had said she would try to get here in time to say bye but she couldn't make it, and my Dad got called away, so it was only my Mom.

"Hey, sweetie." My Mom gave me a hug. "So what pokemon did you pick?"

"They didn't have Chimchar, but a Professor was visiting from Johto and he let me have Cyndaquill."

"Oh, how cute!" My Mom knelt down and gave Cyndaquill a quick head rubbing.

I smiled. "But Professor Elm forgot his pokeball so I'm bringing it to him."

My Mom let out a little laugh. "I've never heard of a professor forgetting a pokemon. Here's your back-pack." She handed me it. "Your Dad called and said he'd meet you at the pokemon center in

Jubilife for lunch tomorrow. Can you make it?"

I nodded. Canalave wasn't to far from Jubilife City.

"Good." My Mom nodded. "Oh, and I have a present for you." She pulled out a pokemon hat from behind her back. An actual hat, not one of those pokeball holder kinds.

"Cool!" I said putting it on my head. "Thanks!"

She smiled. "I'm glad you like it. Now you better hurry and go if you want to catch up with Professor Elm in time."

I gave her a big hug. "Love you, Mom! Bye!"

 _"_ _Cynda, cynda!"_

We weren't walking for to long before I started to get kinda bored. We hadn't seen any pokemon yet and the scenery was the same. Trees, trees, and more trees!

"How long do you think we've been walking, Cyndaquill?" I asked. It just shrugged.

 _"_ _Cynda?"_

We must've walked another thirty minutes before my boredom and curiosity got the better of me.

"I wonder what pokemon is in here?" I said taking out the pokeball and enlarging it.

 _"_ _Cynda!"_ Cyndaquill exclaimed worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to let it out!" I replied.

 _"_ _Quill_. _"_ The relief was evident in Cyndaquill's short statement.

I ignored it. "I wonder if it's a rare pokemon? Like," I tried to bring to mind some. "Like a Toxicroak, or even a Garchomp!"

But those are Sinnoh pokemon. A professor from Johto probably wouldn't have them. I tried to think of some Johto pokemon, but I don't know many.

"Maybe it's a Flaffy? Orrr…" Then I remembered one of the legendary pokemon that was said to roam the land over there. "I know! I bet it's an Entie! And Professor Elm didn't know what to do with it so he brought it to Professor Rowan!"

Cyndaquill looked at me as if I was crazy.

"What? It would be cool if that really happened." I said annoyed. Though Cyndaquill was probably right, most likely it was something like a Flaffy. I sighed. "It would be _so_ cool if it was rare. The pokemon inside I mean." Then I thought of something. "Hey! Any pokemon from Johto would be rare! Or at least uncommon." I looked closely at the pokeball. Now I was excited again. "But I still wonder what pokemon it is." I listed several more possibilities. "It could be a Natu, or Murkrow, or Sentret…" I jumped in surprise as a red light shot from the pokeball.

 _"_ _Cynda?!"_

"Uh-oh," I looked at the pokemon that now sat in front of me.

 _"_ _Spearow_. _"_


End file.
